City woman faces charges related to 2010 murder of Joseph Dugan

TAUNTON — The first criminal case related to the unsolved 2010 murder of Joseph E. Dugan was heard Tuesday in Taunton District Court.

The prosecution and defense attorney, however, did not have enough time to present closing arguments in what was a day-long trial. Those arguments will be made Wednesday morning to the six-person jury and its single alternate member.

Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Amanda L. Melendez, 281 Washington St., with two counts of witness intimidation for allegedly lying to investigators during two interviews conducted in late 2011.

Dugan, a Taunton resident, was shot once in the back of the head just after midnight on July 8, 2010, while reclining on the front stoop of an apartment house at 11 Granite St. A female acquaintance and her mother who were outside with him at the time were not hurt, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing a black male wearing a hoodie run from the scene and jump into a dark Dodge Intrepid parked a block away. That car, which reportedly was seen driving into Taunton State Hospital with its headlights off, was found later that morning in front of a Maple Street house.

Relatives of Dugan, who was 33 when he was killed, have previously said they are convinced his homicide was a case of mistaken identity.

Lead detective Christopher Dumont, a Massachusetts state trooper assigned to the Bristol County DA's office, was one of six witnesses who took the stand on Tuesday.

Dumont testified that Melendez lied to him during interviews after the shooting.

He said she initially denied knowing Jeremy Rhoden, a 23-year-old former Taunton resident and associate of Donnelle Bates, the latter of whom was Melendez's boyfriend, the father of her child and who is now serving three years in state prison for drug trafficking.

Dumont also testified Melendez claimed she didn't know Bates' phone number, despite the fact she was pregnant with his child and that they had a 6-year relationship — before Bates was given the option of attending a court-ordered Teen Challenge Program in Pennsylvania in lieu of a prison sentence.

Bates was taken out of the program and sentenced to prison after authorities discovered that he broke the rules of the program by making numerous and lengthy cellphone calls after midnight to Melendez.

Dumont also testified that Melendez lied to him when she claimed she didn't know who Bates' friends were. Melendez, Dumont said, later admitted that she lied when she denied making and taking calls from Bates.

Melendez, according to Dumont, lied when she said she didn't know of a connection between Rhoden and the late Tigan Hollingsworth — a Taunton teen who was stabbed and beaten to death after being chased from Grampy's convenience store two weeks before Dugan was shot.

Relatives of Dugan are convinced he was mistakenly singled out for revenge for the Hollingsworth murder. Two men so far have been convicted in that case. A third is scheduled for trial later this year.

Dumont testified that Melendez eventually admitted that Rhoden was friends with Hollingsworth and had been a pallbearer at his funeral.

Immediately after the Dugan shooting, police were unable to locate Rhoden. He eventually spoke to police by phone, Dumont said, but lied when he said he was in the Tampa, Fla., area. It turns out he was near Mobile, Ala., where his girlfriend, Ariana Sims, who testified on Tuesday, eventually gave birth to a child.

The Dodge Intrepid in the Dugan case was owned by Sims.

Rhoden, according to a 2012 affidavit, told investigators he'd allowed his friend, Bates, to take and drive the Intrepid, but that Bates never returned it to him.

Dumont's affidavit also states that Rhoden provided Bates' name only when confronted with "items"allegedly linking Bates and Rhoden to the Dugan killing.

Assistant District Attorney Dennis Collins is prosecuting the case against Melendez., who is being represented by Paul Carlucci of Franklin.

District court Judge Mary Elizabeth Heffernan is presiding over the case.

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